Movie review: The Croods

IF THE Flintstones and Avatar were to ever get together and have a baby, the result would be The Croods.

Visually stunning, creatively rich and candy-coloured, the latest flick from DreamWorks Animation follow's a prehistoric clan as they navigate their survival through an impending apocalypse of sorts.

A dysnfunctional family, they could very well be the the Bluths of the animation world their level of dysfunctional dynamics is so high.

Eep, the ambitious, adventures daughter voiced by Emma Stone yearns for a life of excitement while her burly paranoid Dad would rather hide away, literally, in a cave.

After their cave is destroyed by an earthquake, the family sets out on a journey to find a new home accompanied by an inventive stranger who threatens to take over as the alpha male of the group.

The story telling is fairly basic and the combination of the progressive and traditional family values is at times a little heavy handed but where the film really shines is in its visuals and colourful creative creatures.

Rollercoaster chase sequences, and a visual wonderland filled with carnivorous flowers, turtles that can fly, flesh devouring birds and a candy-coloured sabre-toothed tiger uterlise the 3D medium in spectacular fashion.

It's fantastic to see a physically strong female lead that bucks the trend of whippet thin and traditionally feminine Disney princesses like characters that populate animated films and the love story is rather adorable.

It's cute, quirky and visually stunning; The Flintstones have some competition.